David Marques

I am continuing my blog series on the importance of leading with character. I wrote a post about it as much of this recognition comes from my experience and the wisdom imparted by people who have journeyed alongside me. It is our character that holds our moral compass and this series is rooted in biblical principles. I am still learning but I hope with sharing I can continue to grow in these virtues. This post will focus on INTEGRITY.

If there is a character that is often overlooked for being an unspoken expectation, this is it: integrity is mostly seen as the ability to tell the truth and be committed to do what you said you would do. But it is also about doing it the “right” way; honoring a code of conduct and following the rules established. True successful and inspiring leaders build a legacy that is anchored by integrity as it is not just about getting results but “how” you do it.

“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out“

Proverbs 10:9

In my recent post on the character of kindness I shared an event where my team had to deliver some tough news to me: we would not deliver a very important feature on time. This had impacts on our goals and budget, but their reasoning made sense as we simply couldn’t commit to assurance of accurate information being provided to customers. Our whole team was frustrated as we all wanted to do well but it made sense why we needed to wait and continue our development work. I recall using the word kindness to them because I valued their honesty. Ultimately, we were showing character to each other but also to our stakeholders and our customers. The type of character that strengthens a team.

What unfolded was a series of communications where we committed to holding our deployment a month later with increased standards. One might say we were successful because we delivered an amazing product. I think we were successful because we showed integrity in the way we developed and deployed our product.

How do you show INTEGRITY in your leadership? Have you seen it demonstrated in your work? Share and comment below.